makin' gnocchi.

see more gnocchi photos.
Originally uploaded by deepfry.

last week, my friends and i gathered to make gnocchi, inspired by a late night viewing of Lidia Matticchio Bastianich's cooking show a few weeks back. frankly, i was disappointed that at no time during the cooking process did either of lidia's well-fed grown children "coincidentally" stop by to recommend wine, reminisce about childhood meals or face the harsh criticism of lidia while attempting to help cook. alas.

we decided to make traditional potato gnocchi and spice things up a bit by trying yam gnocchi. we also made fresh pesto sauce and pulled out some of the tomato sauce that bruce had made and frozen last summer.

to make the gnocchi, we first steamed up a big pot of potatoes. once they were nice and soft, the potatoes were peeled and put through the ricer here's a photo of erin ricing potatoes. when i took my turn, i found it to be deeply satisfying. To take something so big and smush it through into all these tiny little blobs...instant gratification!

after ricing, we kneaded flour and salt into the mashed potato, making it into a relatively firm dough. the yams took a lot more flour than the potatoes and also required an egg. and even with the egg and flour, after sitting piled on a plate for ten minutes, awaiting boiling, they merged into one, requiring a second round of rolling and cutting.

but i'm jumping ahead. after making the dough, we rolled it out into long thin snakes (such as pictured above) and used a pastry cutter to cut each roll into gnocchi-sized pieces. rolling a fork across the top of each one put on the finishing touch.

the final product was delightful! the pesto and a tomato sauce went wonderfully with both of them and bruce grilled up a piece of halibut, steamed some asparagus and threw together a quick salad. all in all, it was a very wholesome meal. the potato gnocchi, eggless, was a bit mushy for me, but everyone else liked it. i prefered the yam gnocchi, which ultimately held together better.

the project was delightful! there were a few too-many-cooks-in-the-kitchen moments, but, overall, we did well, working together like a real team, producing a highly edible meal! delicious, even!